FZ20 fans take note, I believe the native front opening on our Leica is 55mm.

I got my FZ20 and was trying to decide whether to just use the Panasonic brand 72mm filters (UV and Polarizer) or order an adapter tube (Pemaraal http://www.b-300.com, Yoshida http://butabara-tec.com. And if I chose one of these aftermarket tubes, should I get the most popular 62mm version or the also available 55mm or 58mm.

I was digging thru my old camera gear and had these:

Hoya Circular Polarizer 55mm, 81A, 81B, UV and a Green one I used to use with B&amp;W film. I also have a Kenko 2x 52mm that I use on my Optima XI video camera.

I was laying out and cleaning all this old glass, when I noticed my old Canon end cap was missing, so I picked up the FZ20 factory lens cap to see how close it was and I was amazed to see that it is an exact fit for the 55mm filters. If Panasonic had threaded the Leica lens, I wouldn't even need an adapter at all. Though I'm sure they didn't to protect us from ourselves, afterall some of those old Polarizers had a pretty thick ring that could jam the lens when it retracts (maybe).

So the end of this very long story is that I'm ordering a 55mm Pemarreal or Yoshida and getting a 55mm to 52mm step-down ring for the Kenko KVC-20. Now before I get tons of warnings about the poor quality of the Kenko KVC-20 Video lens when mounted against a Leica like the FZ20, I know the difference, I'll get a Tcon-17 later, for now the cheapy Kenko is OK for fooling around with.

I am getting my brand new FZ20 soon, and since most of my photography is done outdoors around water the use of a polarising filter is required. Thanks for your informative post, the website references really helped. The following questions still persist however.

Can these adaptors be used in conjunction with the Panasonic hood?

If not, and one buys an adaptor with an integral hood, will that hood still allow access for rotating the circular filter?

Short question, long answer. The FZ20 factory hood (a very nice one I might add) attaches to the factory adapter and I believe it's built to grip a 74mm ring (72 might work but haven't tried...yet). The way I see it, your choices are:

1) Use the factory adaptor and hood unless you need to use one of the telephoto lens or other filters. Maybe buy a 72mm UV to go with the factory adaptor.

2) Buy a hood for your custom adaptor (55,58 or 62) whichever you end up buying. In this case, I would buy a large round rubber one that screws into the outside of your filters. In the case of a Polarizer you would be able to rotate the hood. The large rubber ones let you collapse back to partial open the hood in case you find that your wide angle is vignetting and you need to fold the hood back a bit.

3) Buy one or more stepup rings to go from say 55mm up to 72 or 74mm (whichever the factory hood is, I haven't measured it yet). Then attach the factory hood to the step rings. This method has a pretty strong downside for the case of using a polarizer. The petal-shaped factory hood is directional. If the polarizer is placed behind the steprings and hood, when you rotate the polarizer, you will be rotating the petal hood. The only way I can think to get around this would be to buy a cheap used 72 or 74mm polarizer, break out the glass and attach the petal hood to that, then you could counter-rotate the petal hood to compensate for any rotation you might apply to the polarizer. Another thought is to take a look at the Chin adaptor links, he sells a Sigma petal hood with a bayonet adaptor you can use to rotate the petal.

4) Make a choice when you shoot. When you use the polarizer, forget about the hood. Afterall the polarizer neutralizes the glare. I like to think about it like going out on the boat, I usually either wear sunglasses or a ball cap. I can wear both at the same time, but usually don't need to.

Thanks for the response. I got my camera yesterday, and it all worked out fine. I bought a 72mm Kenko polariser. The nice thing is that the 72mm goes directly onto the Pana adaptor, and the petal hood fits over this. Convenient. The downside is that it is then a little troublesome to rotate the filter inside the hood, but not impossible.

I will try it outside with and without the hood, just to see whats best.

Btw, loving the camera. Took some crisp shots at full zoom in dim light last night by just resting the camera on my knee. Amazing!